


Locked

by eisneRiegan



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Fluffy Ending, I can't stress the phrase Idiots in Love enough, Idiots in Love, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26928445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eisneRiegan/pseuds/eisneRiegan
Summary: Some idiot got locked up overnight in the Goddess Tower
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth & Claude von Riegan, My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 58





	Locked

**Night time, Goddess Tower**

Claude stretched, relieving the stiffness from his shoulders and back.

He had lost track of time stargazing up in the Goddess Tower.

He has to turn in for the night since he still have an early war meeting the next day.

Man. He knew being in position have a lot of responsibility, especially to the people they govern. He has that waiting for him back at home, on a much bigger scale and more cloak and dagger type of politics

He really wish that he can get a day off.

A whole week of day off sounds good too.

But with a war going on and him finally taking the Leicester Alliance's stance from neutral (despite of infighting), to head on facing the Empire, he has little choice but to continue working.

He trust his fellows on the battlefield, but he can't trust them making sound tactical judgements.

At least with the one year under Byleth, they somewhat improved. Even Hilda, who used to hate taking the lead of her battalion, improved immensely though she complained a lot to Byleth about it.

He went down the stairs, yawning widely, wondering if he can sneak into the dining hall and get a glass of milk. When he reached the bottom of the stairs and tried to open the door, he found it locked.

Weird.

He didn't lock it when he went up.

And since he's on the inside, he should be able to open it no problem so what's going on? 

He tried to turn the knob to no avail.

He then remembered Alois reporting to Byleth about the locking mechanism on some doors in the Monastery being faulty since thieves have broken them.

They're lousy lockpickers then, damaging the inner mechanism. Probably they raked it too much. Or they brute forced their way in.

And they're dumb as heck when they lockpicked a tower where nothing of import is being kept in.

Taking a deep breath, Claud took a few steps back and ran up to the door, ramming his shoulder to open it.

"Ow." Claude groaned as he massaged his painful shoulder.

He shouldn't have done that against that thick door.

He tried kicking it open, grunting in annoyance when it won't budge.

"Aw come on." He said to the door as he tried to jiggle the knob again, pushing it open.

If only he listened to Ashe more closely how to open jammed doors like this...

He slumped against the door, sighing tiredly.

Well, if he doesn't show up to the meeting, they will conduct a search for him, right?

  
**Morning, Cardinal's Meeting Room**

"Where's Claude?" Byleth frowned as she took her seat at the head of the table, with her former students taking their respective seats, save for the one on her right that is reserved for the Golden Deer House Leader.

"He wasn't at breakfast." Hilda replied, making Lorenz huff.

"Obviously he's sleeping in. He took initiative to lead us and yet he's absent when we're on a critical stage of our planning."

"You don't have to be dramatic about taking over the Great Bridge of Myrrdin, Lorenz." Leonie told him.

"I assure you, I'm not being dramatic. I'm stating facts. Once we reclaim that bridge, Gloucester and Ordelia will be safe from the Empire. This mission is important, and Claude chose to sleep in of all times!"

Byleth raised a hand to make them stop bickering, sighing.

They'll have to make do without Claude. He had laid the foundations for the plans after all, so she can take it from there. He deserved a rest after using his brain too much.

Their meeting only took an hour and a half, with Byleth half expecting Claude to burst into the room, grinning in embarrassment.

But he didn't.

When they wrapped it up, she went over to the second floor of the dormitory and knocked on his door.

It's almost midday. He shouldn't skip meals.

"Claude? Are you still sleeping?"

No answer.

She knocked again, louder this time.

"Claude?"

Silence.

"Claude? Are you sick?"

No response.

Worried that he probably poisoned himself, she readied herself on forcing his door open.

Only to find it wasn't locked.

Wary, she pushed the door open, poking her head in carefully.

His room is still a mess as usual.

But he's not on the bed.

She went into the room, carefully looking over at things that might point her to where he might have gone. 

His important stuff are still there, so he didn't ditch them then.

Is it possible that he forgot they had a meeting and he went out somewhere early?

No, he's not like that...so then...

There's no sign of struggle or fight, so having an assassin cornering him in his room is out of the possibilities. But she knows certain ways to make a job like that not suspicious at all...

"Alois, I want a thorough search of the Monastery." Byleth said, thankful that she found the Captain of the Knights on her way down the dormitory. "Bring in all Knights who are not on patrol duty to help."

"Did something happen, Professor?" Alois asked, alarmed. "Did an assassin got through our perimeter?"

"That's a probability I don't want to think about." She told him, sidestepping a cat who wanted to greet her and now sat there, grumpily watching her go. "I want everyone to look for Claude. Within and outside Monastery walls. And if you can get some pegasus or wyvern knights up in the air, that would be helpful."

"Yes, I'll do that at once, Professor."

  
**Midday, Goddess Tower**

Claude scowled at the stubborn door.

He had a horrible time sleeping there against the stone cold floor.

He missed bath time. He missed breakfast. He missed his meeting. And now he's going to miss lunch.

"Gods I swear once I get out of here, you'll be replaced." He told the broken doorknob. "Not just you, but the whole door as well. I don't care if they say it's not my place to do so. I don't even care if you're not a priority over the war."

He kicked at it lamely.

Surely by now they're looking for him, right?

But the whole morning was quiet.

Does that mean they proceeded with the meeting without him? Or did they postponed it?

He started his way up the stairs, hoping that maybe he can get one of the patrols to save his sorry ass. They may not be able to land their flying mounts within the small space without their wings hitting the sides, but at least they can tell someone to get that damn door hammered down.

Luckily for him, he found two wyvern knights flying past.

"Hey!" He yelled, wondering if they can actually hear him. "Hey over here!"

He waved his arms to catch their attention, though he lacks the energy to sustain it.

His stomach growled loudly and Claude sighed.

This is so embarrassing.

At least Nardel isn't around. His parents would know about this and make fun of him once he returns home.

He tried again to get another patrol's attention.

**Monastery Grounds**

"They found him, Professor!" Alois shouted, running towards her. Byleth whipped around to look at him, relieved.

They've been searching for him for a good half hour already and she was starting to get anxious when none have reported to her.

She couldn't even find him in his usual haunting grounds during his off times.

"Where is he?"

"In the Goddess Tower. Some of the knights are already on their way to get him."

"Why is he even there?"

"He got locked in."

Byleth started walking briskly towards the said tower, with Alois taking a deep breath and following her.

When they reached the place, they found a handful of Knights milling about, trying different ways to get the door open.

One even has a crowbar.

"What's taking all of you to open that door?" Alois demanded.

"We're trying not to damage the wood, sir."

"Forget the wood. We need to get the Alliance Leader out of there."

"But sir–"

"Stand aside." Byleth ordered them as she purposely walked to the door. She leaned down to check the damaged lock, before sighing.

Claude can't hear her with this thick door.

She'll have to pray and hope he's not stupid enough to stand too close.

"I'll explain to Seteth why we had to destroy Monastery property later." She said as she turned to Alois. "May I borrow your axe?"

Alois handed over his weapon to her and the Knights gave her some swinging space.

It took her a while to finally get the door swinging open uselessly and Claude poked his head to look if it's clear for him to approach.

Byleth thrusted the axe to a startled Knight and went in to hug him, relieved to see him okay.

Claude held up his hands, unsure why she's overreacting like this.

"Uh, hey, Teach. Thank you for saving me from hunger."

She pushed herself away from him, flicking his forehead.

"You! You knew some places here are in need of repair! Why did you come here anyway?"

"It offers the best view for stargazing..." he replied lamely.

That earned him another flick on the forehead.

  
**Kingdom of Almyra, several years later**

"And that's how the warrior princess saved the loved of her life." Claude said to their four year old daughter and two year old son. "They all lived happily ever, and they had two beautiful children."

Byleth rolled her eyes as they tucked their children away to bed.

"You really turned that into a tale, huh?" Byleth told him when they got back to their bedroom. "Made yourself into the swooning love interest."

"Hey, who ordered a Monastery-wide search for a single person?" Claude said defensively. "And I honestly would have swooned at the sight of our beloved Professor, hacking away at millenia old door to save her beloved student, if I wasn't hungry and deprived of proper sleep."

He grinned at her, enveloping her in his arms tightly. "Beside...I realized that our feelings were mutual when you ordered that search and you hacked that door. Not the best way to confess but since it's you..."

"I think I want a divorce, Claude." She mumbled, embarrassed by that memory.

"What? I won't agree to that, Teach. We can't split Almyra and Fodlan!"

Byleth wiggled out of his hug. "Then stop reminding me of that incident."

"Awww... Is someone still flustered?"

"Claude, I'm warning you."

Claude cackled at that, lifting her up in his arms and crashed into the bed with her.

"Okay, I'll shut up about it if we do our homework tonight. It's been a while you know..."


End file.
